The Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings left at essentially the same time for Dublin, Ireland. The two will meet for a 9:30 AM/EST kickoff Sunday. But there is one difference in the two team’s approach to Sunday’s game. When the Vikings show up for this weekend’s game, it might not be the first time they’ve stepped into Croke Park. For the Steelers, it will be.
Head coaches Mike Tomlin and Kevin O’Connell spoke to reporters today and detailed different plans for handling the new venue.
“We will not,” Tomlin said via the team website when asked if the team will visit the stadium prior to Sunday’s game.
O’Connell and the Vikings are taking a different approach.
“We’d like to get a chance to go check out the stadium,” he said courtesy of Minnesota’s YouTube channel. “The surroundings, the surface and all those things if it works out.”
O’Connell didn’t guarantee Minnesota will be able to make it over to Croke Park. But his intent is to try sometime Saturday. Doing so would give the organization, players and coaches, a feel for the stadium. The setup, the locker rooms, and of course, field conditions. So when Sunday’s kickoff rolls around, there’s as little “new” as possible for Minnesota’s squad for the NFL’s first-ever regular season game in Ireland.
Tomlin has no plans to make the trip.
“Not at all,” Tomlin said when asked if not going is a concern. “Long as the field’s a hundred yards and all of that stuff. And the conditions are the same for both teams. We care very little about that.”
Pittsburgh is staying at the Carton House, getting first “dibs” on choosing a facility due to being the “home” team. That’s about a 35-minute trip to Croke Park and presumably, Tomlin doesn’t see the logistics of busing the whole team to and from as worth it.
Visiting Croke Park or not won’t determine the victor of this game. Each team’s game plan and execution will. But Minnesota is approaching the trip a little differently than Pittsburgh, seeing the value in learning all that can be learned before the game begins.
